Towards perfectly linearly polarized x-rays

Elastic scattering of linearly polarized hard x - rays

Measurements of Photonuclear Reactions Induced with Linearly Polarized Gamma Rays

This thesis reports the first measurements of cross sections and asymmetries for gamma ray induced emission of neutrons from Se. These measurements are part of a broader project to obtain transition widths relevant to determining the weak-magnetism corrections to the standard Fermi function for the energy spectrum of electrons emitted in beta decay of radioactive nuclei. The measurements were p...

A Case for Chiral Contributions to Nondipole Effects in Photoionization Using Linearly Polarized Soft X-rays

...................................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... iv Dedication.................................................................................

Polarized X-rays from Magnetized Neutron Stars

We review the polarization properties of X-ray emission from highly magnetized neutron stars, focusing on emission from the stellar surfaces. We discuss how x-ray polarization can be used to constrain neutron star magnetic field and emission geometry, and to probe strong-field quantum electrodynamics and possibly constrain the properties of axions.

Linearly Polarized X-ray Flares following Short Gamma-ray Bursts

Soft X-ray flares were detected to follow the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 050724. The temporal properties of the flares suggest that they are likely due to the late time activity of the central engine. We argue that if short GRBs are generated through compact star mergers, as is supported by the recent observations, the jet powering the late X-ray flares must be launched via magnetic pro...